Israel launched fresh airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Saturday in response to rocket fire from the enclave and the Palestinian Islamist Hamas group said two of its gunmen were killed in the bombings.
Militants fired at least three rockets toward Israeli towns from the Hamas-controlled strip on Friday, which was declared a "day of rage" by Palestinian factions protesting U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
"IAF (Israeli Air Force) aircraft targeted four facilities belonging to the Hamas terror organization in the Gaza Strip: Two weapons manufacturing sites, a weapons warehouse, a military compound," the Israeli military said in a statement.
A Hamas source confirmed the two men killed in the strikes belonged to the group which urged Palestinians to keep up confrontation with Israeli forces.
Two more Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops on the Gaza border on Friday and scores more were wounded there and in the occupied West Bank during the ...

A day before Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked five eastern states sharing boundaries with Bangladesh to be extra vigilant against influx of Rohingya and illegal immigrants through the porous Indo-Bangla border, a report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) warned the mass flight of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar’s Rakhine state has created a humanitarian catastrophe and in the process raised serious security risks.
The report - Myanmar’s Rohingya Crisis Enters a Dangerous New Phase - by the ICG, an independent organisation headquartered in Belgium, which sounds alerts to prevent deadly conflict and shape policies for peace, has warned the mass flight of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar’s Rakhine state has created a humanitarian catastrophe and serious security risks, including potential cross-border militant attacks.
“The international community should press Myanmar to urgently implement the Annan commission’s proposals, including as regards discrimination, segregation and citizenship,” the report ...

The Islamist group Hamas urged Palestinians on Thursday to abandon peace efforts and launch a new uprising against Israel in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as its capital.
Palestinian factions called for a "Day of Rage" on Friday, and a wave of protest in the West Bank and Gaza on Thursday brought clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops. At least 31 people were wounded by Israeli gunfire and rubber bullets, medics said.
The Israeli military said an aircraft and a tank had targeted two posts belonging to militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip after three rockets were launched at Israel.
A jihadist Salafi group in Gaza called the Al-Tawheed Brigades - which does not heed the call from the enclave's dominant force, Hamas, to desist from firing rockets - claimed responsibility for the launches.
The military said it was reinforcing troops in the occupied West Bank.
Some protesters threw rocks at soldiers and others chanted: "Death to America! Death to the fool ...

Australia became the 26th nation to legalise same-sex marriage on Thursday, prompting cheers and singing from a packed parliament public gallery in a country where some states ruled homosexual acts to be illegal until just 20 years ago.
Lawmakers, who had cast aside a conservative push to allow religious objectors to refuse service to same-sex couples, waved rainbow flags and embraced on the floor of the chamber, after the overwhelming vote in favour of the bill.
Fewer than five of 150 MPs voted against it.
"What a day. What a day for love, for equality, for respect," said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. "It is time for more marriages."
The law, which will also recognise same-sex marriages solemnised in foreign countries, takes effect from Saturday. Because a month's notice is required for the state to recognise a marriage, the first legal same-sex unions will be in January.
Five-time Olympic gold-medal winner, the swimmer Ian Thorpe, who came out in 2014, said the law reflected contemporary Australia ...

Rajasthan Muslim Forum marked the demolition of Babri Masjid by organising a prayer meeting at a mosque in Moti Dungri area on Wednesday. The focus was on the demand about the increase in the pace of the court proceedings of all the pending cases related to the demolition and ownership of Babri Masjid that is being dealt under the supervision of All India Muslim Personal Law Board. The attendees demanded pace in the court cases against the accused asked for strict punishment for them.
A resolution was also passed which stated that, “A case should be filed against the political and social leaders who are making instigative statements and are supporting the construction of a temple in place of Babri Masjid.” The speakers claimed that the issue of Babri Masjid is not communal but is an issue of freedom of practicing a religion.
“The demolition that took place on December 6, 1992, is a disgrace to the nation. All parties related to the issue should patiently wait for the judicial decision on the same. Also, ...

The Delhi High Court today sought the Centre's response on a PIL to amend the Muslim personal law on inheritance, alleging that Muslim women were discriminated on issues relating to sharing of property.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar asked the Ministry of Law and Justice to examine the issue of alleged discriminatory practice in the Muslim law on inheritance.
It directed the government to submit its stand positively before the next date of hearing on April 9 next year.
Central government standing counsel Monika Arora told the bench that the Law Commission was examining the issue.
The court was hearing a plea by a social organisation -- Sahara Kalyan Samiti-- which has sought equal inheritance rights for Muslim women.
The petition, filed by advocate Raghav Awasthi alleged that Muslim women in India have been discriminated as far their rights of inheritance were concerned in comparison to their male counterparts.
It said the discrimination based on customary law as ...

A draft law released on Friday makes the use of instant triple talaq illegal, besides provisioning for up to three years in jail and a fine.
Earlier this year, a five-judge Constitution Bench had struck down the practice of instant triple talaq in a 3:2 judgment. The draft law was released today in a bid to deter the continued use of the practice in the Muslim community despite the top court's judgment.
The proposed law is only applicable to 'Talaq-e-Biddat' or the instant triple talaq through any means — spoken, in writing or by electronic means such as email, SMS and WhatsApp.
The draft 'Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill' was sent to state governments on Friday for their views, with responses sought on an urgent basis.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh headed the interministerial committee that prepared the draft. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and ministry of state P P Chaudhary were also on the panel. However, ...

Protesters belonging to hardline Islamist groups on Monday called off their protests after the Pakistan government agreed to its demands and law minister Zahid Hamid resigned.
The protesters had clashed with the security forces on Saturday and Sunday, leading to death of seven people. Nearly 200 people injured in the deadly clashes after police tried to disperse protesters in Islamabad on Saturday.
The protesters resisted the bid and clashed with the security forces and blocked key roads and motorways in other cities.
What were the protests all about:
Pakistan for years had an electoral law that required candidates to declare that the prophet Muhammad is God’s final prophet. The oath practically stops Ahmadi Muslims to participate in the elections.
Recently, words in the electoral oath “I solemnly swear” were replaced with “I believe.”
Many in Pakistan believed that the change amounted to blasphemy and alleged that the change would have allowed Ahmadiya community members to contest ...

'It is important to destroy, to undermine, to debunk the narrative of ISIS,' Olivier Roy -- one of the world's leading experts on radical Islam -- tells Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel in an exclusive interview.

With his only son turning his back on the "family business" and choosing to become a 'Maulana', absconding don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar is learnt to be suffering from bouts of depression, a news agency has reported.
The 1993 Mumbai terror attack mastermind, a fugitive India has been desperately wanting to bring back, is finding it difficult to resolve this sudden situation, despite all the man and muscle power he has at his disposal.
According to the report, 31- year-old Moin Nawaz D Kaskar, the third child and only son of Dawood is a devout Muslim who has chosen to become a Maulana, or a cleric-cum-religious teacher.
"Moin is understood to be deadly against his father's illegal activities, which have given the entire family a notorious reputation worldwide and made many of them wanted fugitives everywhere," Thane Anti-Extortion Cell head Pradeep Sharma told the news agency.
He said this and other nuggets of an internal strife in the family tumbled out in bits and pieces during the ongoing interrogation of ...

When the first trailer of Padmavati hit the screens a month and a half ago, it captured little imagination and looked like just another fancy Sanjay Leela Bhansali magnum opus.
With top actors and grandiose sets, the trailer was easily a time-tested Bhansali match, bought quickly by Bollywood fans.
It went viral instantly. In 24 hours, it garnered 20 million views on YouTube, considered the most received by a Hindi film trailer in a day. It was talked about by social and mainstream media alike, the curiosity catalysed by top influencers.
The magic, however, was short-lived, as protests against Padmavati makers spiralled, accusing them of distorting history and hurting sentiments of the Rajput community. The opposition to the film kept mounting, making Padmavati one of the most controversial movies.
The December 1 release now stands deferred indefinitely, while the highly anticipated movie has been banned in multiple states, mostly ruled by the BJP. Threats of beheading and nose-chopping were issued ...